Better OmniFocus Task Entry

In keeping with GTD principles, every time a task comes to mind, I have to get it into OmniFocus right away. The longer it stays in my brain, the more likely I am to forget it.

OmniFocus has a quick entry mechanism that allows me to type ^ + Space and enter tasks at lightening speed. There’s one catch, however: OmniFocus has to be open for it to work. Believe it or not, I don’t always have OmniFocus open. Opening it, then entering my tasks introduces a slightly irksome level of friction, and that isn’t acceptable.

I realized that this was true of OmniFocus’ AppleScript methods, as well: OmniFocus needs to be open in order for them to work. Given that I have some workflows that make use of these methods, this, too, introduced friction.

TL;DR

With a smart Applescript, it’s possible to add tasks to OmniFocus regardless of whether it’s open.

The Beginning

I brainstormed a bit and came up with a flow to remove the friction and be more robust overall:

nvALT Checkboxes via Hazel

I mentioned this workflow in my posts on OmniFocus and nvALT – its purpose is to take “checkboxes” in nvALT (which I label as [ x ]) and convert them into OmniFocus tasks. As with the other workflows, it allows me to file tasks into OmniFocus whether it is open.

The companion AppleScript used by the Hazel rule looks like this:

(Notice the ridiculous number of accompanying methods used to create a link back to the nvALT note; I wish I knew a better way.)

Entering some tasks into nvALT:

[ x ] Task #1 [ x ] Task #2

…causes Hazel to parse them into OmniFocus tasks:

Once again, these tasks’ notes contain links back to the original nvALT notes:

Closing Thoughts

Some might look at this and think it’s a tad overkill. Why not just keep OmniFocus open? you might say. It’s a valid point, but in my own workflows, I’ve simply noticed that it doesn’t always happen. That’s usually enough of an impetus to drive me to invent a solution like this.

The truth is, when OmniFocus is open, its AppleScript methods are quicker (and it seems less elegant to email tasks when there are quicker methods). When OmniFocus is closed, however, the email method removes the friction that I’ve grown to dislike. Having one automated method for both saves me time, and that’s what productivity is all about.